Demosthenes

Demosthenes (died 413 BC) was a prominent Athenian general during the Peloponnesian War. He was one of the commanders of a relief force sent to assist the Sicilian Expedition in 413 BC, and he was captured and executed.

Biography
Demosthenes was the son of Alcisthenes, and he became a general of Athens at the start of the Peloponnesian War. Humble and efficient, he was not content with how Pericles and the Athenian leadership sought to win the war, disagreeing with their insistence that they meet the Spartans in an honorable battle on the field. Instead, he secretly hired the mercenary Kassandra to assassinate Spartan generals and bring their seals back to him in order to hamstring the besieging army during their Siege of Athens. In 426 BC, he led an Athenian invasion of Aetolia, but his invasion was defeated with heavy losses, and he did not return to Athens out of fear for his life. However, he helped Acarnania defeat Ambracia, and he was victorious at the Battle of Pylos in 425 BC. In 424 BC, his attempt to conquer Megara was defeated by the Spartan general Brasidas, but he went on to sign the Peace of Nicias with Sparta in 421 BC. In 417 BC, he evacuated Athenian troops from Epidaurus following the Battle of Mantinea, and, in 413 BC, he and Eurymedon were sent with 73 ships and 5,000 hoplites to join the Sicilian Expedition against Syracuse. However, the expedition was defeated in a chaotic night battle, and it decided against sailing home due to the bad omen of a lunar eclipse. As a result, the Spartans and Syracusans surrounded the invading army, and Demosthenes and Nicias were captured and executed by the Syracusans, against the orders of the Spartan general Gylippus.